Legal Protection Places of Worship

Jonathan Taylor

The tomb of Raja Rammohun Roy at Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol was designed by William Prinsep in 1843 and
is listed Grade II*. Roy was a great Hindu reformer and thinker who had died of meningitis 10 years earlier while on a
visit to Bristol. In the distance is the non-conformist chapel.

From a secular perspective, historic
church buildings, from cathedrals to
non-conformist chapels, are a vital part of
our heritage. They are visited by thousands of
people from home and abroad. They contribute
to the character of the places that we live,
work or visit, and they are loved by many who
have no religious affiliation or interest.

From a religious perspective, the
importance of the fabric of a church or chapel
goes beyond its historic significance or its
practical value as a purpose-made structure
designed for a very specific function: it is, at
the least, an expression of the faith of those
who paid for its construction and upkeep.
For some, the fabric is itself venerated and may
even be considered to be sacred. In the case of
the Catholic Church, God’s love is seen in the
sacredness and beauty of religious patrimony,
which includes places of worship, religious
furnishings and texts.

It is as a result of this unique relationship
between the people and their church that, over
the centuries, so much time and skill have been
lavished on the design and furnishing of places
of worship.

Today their importance is reflected by the
fact that churches account for almost half the
Grade I listed buildings in England, and the
Church of England is by far the largest single
custodian of listed buildings in the country,
caring for over 13,000 listed places of worship.

The legislative system which now protects
these buildings is particularly complex. In
essence there are three types of consent which
may be required for an alteration: planning
permission, conservation area consent, and
listed building consent. In addition, scheduled
monument consent may also be required where
a churchyard includes a scheduled monument.
This situation is made more complex as the
need for conservation area consent and listed
building consent varies across the UK according
to country and denomination.

Planning permission: extensions and new
buildings in the grounds of a church will require
planning permission, as does the alteration of
any existing building in a manner that materially
affects its external appearance. All churches
in the UK are affected by this requirement
for planning permission, whatever their
denomination.

If the building is not listed, alterations
to the interior do not require permission.
However, proposals to carry out a development
which requires planning permission or consent
under the building regulations may alert the
local authority to its historic or architectural
importance, and trigger its assessment and
subsequent listing, as in the case of the Elim
Pentecostal Church in Bath (see 'The New List Entries', below).

Conservation area consent: there are
approximately 10,000 conservation areas in
the UK, often including the historic core of
an urban area or village centre. Within these
areas consent is required for the demolition
of any building, whether it is listed or not. The
local authority also exercises some control over
the types of development likely to be granted
planning permission through its policies and
guidance.

Listed building consent: if a building is
listed, consent is also required for any alteration
which affects those special qualities for which it
is listed. This includes the removal or alteration
of any historic feature, inside or out, which
is considered to form part of the fabric of the
building. Listed building consent may also be
required for alterations to any structure within
the grounds or ‘curtilage’ of a church, depending
on its age.

Over 30,000 churches are listed in the
UK. The listings are graded according to the
architectural or historic importance of each
building. In England and Wales Grades I and
II* are the most important, with the majority
at Grade II. In Scotland category A is the most
important (the others being B and C(s)), and in
Northern Ireland the most important are Grade
A or B*, with the remainder at Grade B1 or B2.
The grade or category does not change the extent
to which alterations are controlled.

Work requiring consent includes the
removal of pews and other alterations
commonly entailed in the reordering of a
church.

Strictly speaking, ‘like for like’ repairs do
not require consent, but there is no precise
definition and interpretations may vary. For
example, the insertion of a number of matching
tiles to repair a roof slope would normally be
accepted as being ‘like for like’ but a proposal
to replace a window with one matching it in
every respect of detail and materials might
well require consent. It is always important to
establish contact with the relevant authority in
advance of an application, particularly where
there is doubt about whether particular work
will require consent, or if the proposals involve
alterations or additions.

Scheduled monument consent: churches
and other places of worship are invariably
listed, not scheduled, although some features within the grounds of an historic church
may also be protected as scheduled ‘ancient
monuments’. These are usually features which
cannot be described as buildings, such as an
ancient burial mound or a churchyard cross,
although some monuments may also be listed
individually. (Chest tombs, for example, would
usually be listed, not scheduled.) All works
affecting a scheduled monument or the ground
surrounding it require scheduled monument
consent.

15th century angels adorn the roof of the church of St Kyneburgha, Castor, Lincolnshire.

Ecclesiastical exemption in England and
Wales: most churches in England and Wales
enjoy exemption from listed building consent
and conservation area consent so long as they
remain in use as places of worship. Since 1994
this exemption has been restricted to the church
buildings of those denominations which have
negotiated with the government their own ‘approved system of control’. Currently, this
exemption applies to the Church of England, the
Church in Wales, the Roman Catholic Church,
Baptist Union Church, Methodist Church and
the United Reformed Church. Standard listed
building and conservation area controls apply to
the places of all other denominations and faiths,
including synagogues and mosques.

It is important that the procedures which
apply under the ecclesiastical exemption are
properly followed because the system is still
under review, and any denomination could
lose its exemption if its system is seen not to be
working adequately. Furthermore anyone who
carries out the alteration of a listed building
without the consent of the appropriate church
authority is committing a criminal offence, as in
the secular system.

The exemption applies to works
affecting the place of worship itself as well
as to structures within its curtilage unless
independently listed or scheduled. Ancillary
buildings which are not used for worship are
also excluded, as is the complete demolition of
a listed building since, by definition, a church
cannot be considered to be in use as a place of
worship when demolition commences.

Generally the denominations operate a two tier
system, with representatives of the statutory
bodies attending the lower board, the approval
being issued by the higher one. This approval is
called a ‘faculty’ by the Roman Catholic Church,
the Church of England and the Methodists.

Within the Baptist Union of Wales
and the Baptist Union of Great Britain for
example, applications are made to the Listed
Buildings Advisory Committee (LBAC),
which includes a minimum of eight people. In
addition to the church representatives, there
is a representative of either English Heritage
or Cadw, another representing the English or
Welsh Local Government Association, and a
national amenity societies representative. Other
specialists may also be co-opted to this panel.
Once an application is submitted, the proposals
must be approved by the Trust Corporation
before they can be considered by the LBAC.
Approval results in a ‘certificate of authorisation’,
and when works are completed, a before and
after photographic record must be submitted
with a ‘certificate of completion’ to the LBAC.

Within the Church of England no
alterations, additions, removals or repairs to
a church, its fabric, ornaments or furniture
may be made without a faculty. The Diocesan
Advisory Committee must be consulted first
on work affecting a building, and the Council
for the Care of Churches must be consulted if
the work affects an object of particular artistic,
historic, architectural or archaeological interest.
The faculty is granted by the diocesan consistory
court.

Ecclesiastical exemption in Scotland: churches are exempt from listed building
controls under section 54 of the Planning
(Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas)
(Scotland) Act 1997. However, under a voluntary
scheme run by Historic Scotland, reviewed
every three years, the exemption is limited to
the interior of churches only. Alterations to the
exterior fall under secular control and require
listed building consent.

The denominations participating in this
scheme are: Associated Presbyterian Churches,
Baptist Union of Scotland, Church of Scotland,
Free Church of Scotland, Free Presbyterian
Church, Methodist Church in Scotland, Roman
Catholic Church in Scotland, Scottish Episcopal
Church, United Free Church of Scotland, and
United Reformed Church Scotland Synod
(formerly Scottish Congregational Church).

Proposals affecting the exterior which
would usually require consent are dealt with
under the usual planning system, with an
application submitted to the local authority.
If the application is successful, listed building
consent is granted in the usual way. If, however,
the church is unable to negotiate a solution
which is acceptable, under the exemption the
application will be referred by the planning
authority to the appropriate ‘decision making
body’ within the denomination concerned,
along with any written submissions from the
Historic Scotland inspectorate, the planning
authority and others as appropriate. The
final decision therefore rests with the church
authority.

The denominations, like the local authority,
are required to adhere to the guidance
contained within the Memorandum of
Guidance on Listed Buildings and Conservation
Areas (Historic Scotland 1997).

CHANGES IN ENGLAND

In England some changes have already been
introduced following the Heritage Protection
Review. In particular, English Heritage has
largely assumed responsibility for listing
buildings from the Department for Culture,
Media and Sport. Further changes proposed in
the DCMS white paper, Heritage Protection
for the 21st Century in March 2007 are aimed at
simplifying the system. The proposals include:

GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE

Planning Policy Statement 6:
Planning, Archaeology and the
Built Heritage

Scotland

Memorandum of Guidance
on Listed Buildings and
Conservation Areas

Wales

61/96 Planning and the Historic
Environment: Historic Buildings
and Conservation Areas
1/98 Planning and the Historic
Environment: Directions by the
Secretary of State for Wales

ECCLESIASTICAL EXEMPTION

England & Wales

The Ecclesiastical Exemption
(Listed Buildings and
Conservation Areas) Order
1994

Scotland

Historic Scotland Guidance
Note: Listed Building Control
for Exteriors of Churches in
Ecclesiastical Use

THE NEW LIST ENTRIES

One of the first achievements of the Heritage Protection Review in England was to make list entries more useful by introducing a ‘summary of
importance’ for each new entry to set out the reasons for listing it (now called ‘reasons for designation decision’), accompanied by a map showing
the extent of the listing. This format provides a much more comprehensive account of each building than a typical list entry and is the forerunner
of the ‘historic asset record’ which will include both architectural and archaeological assets following enactment. The following extract from the new entry
for Elim Pentecostal Church in Bath illustrates the scope of the endeavour.

PLAN: The church is ingeniously planned on a tapering site,
with an outwardly centrally planned chapel actually comprising
a tapering worship space, narrowing towards the pulpit with
a vestry behind. There is a screen front to the street, with a
centrally planned octagonal church within.

STYLE: Lombardic/Romanesque style.

EXTERIOR: The facade and secondary elevations of the
church are of two storeys, with a screen front to street,
incorporating a central gabled section flanked by short
wings ending in towers carried up for further storey. The
ground floor has blind Romanesque arcade of five bays, set
on a plinth incorporating five wrought iron lattice-work
vents, flanked by an additional bay and then by a Lombardic
porch projecting forward below gable at each end of facade.
The upper storey has large central arched recess flanked by
columns in-antis (recessed) with a rope order. This device
frames a rose window (repeated opposite on the south side) of
twelve lights, with inscriptions in corners, `PERCY CHAPEL’
and date `MDCCCLIV’. Strip pilasters frame and articulate
the upper storey, with a corbel table at eaves level. The rest of
the walling blank, except for a single round headed window
over either porch lighting the stair to the galleries. The towers
have moulded stringcourses at both sill and springing level for
windows, paired within arched recesses infilled with delicate
masonry open work divided by colonettes with composite capitals. The towers are finished with a heavy projecting
cornice and pyramidal slate roofs. Behind the central gable
rises the octagonal drum over the space within, forming the
clerestory for the church. Each face has a four-light arcaded
window, with a corbel table and deep eaves overhang going
round building above, all under a pyramidal slate roof. The
hidden flat roofs linking facades and the clerestory drum are
covered in lead. The other elevations are hardly visible, though
that to the rear is of limestone ashlar with a rose window
lighting the gallery to the south and a large ashlar masonry
stack venting the boiler to the rear.
The interior is formed by a polygonal space on the ground
floor with a gallery above surmounted by the octagonal
clerestory carried on eight slender Purbeck Marble columns
with delicate composite capitals, all linked with semicircular
arches with basket-work carving to the soffits.

The pandrels
above retain their decorative paintwork, as do the walls above
the timber dado panelling behind. The floor of the gallery is
raked, though some of the pews have been removed. The mid
C19 roof structure survives complete above. The gallery is
reached by two sets of stairs located in the towers; these are of
masonry with wrought iron balustrades. Below, the gallery is
carried on ten iron columns carrying massive supporting beams
on which rest a series of shaped and cantilevered timber joists
supporting the floor of the gallery. The gallery rail has a cornice
with dentils and a pediment over the clock, set in the eastern
face of the rail, opposite the raised integral pulpit, so located as
to serve those below and those above in the gallery.

A modern
suspended ceiling, set on the top of the gallery rail and
suspended by wires from the roof of the clerestory high above,
regrettably divides the once unified space. Below the main hall
there is a substantial basement taking advantage of the sloping
topography of the site; the floor above is carried on a system
of iron and stone columns and vaults. Here was installed the
boiler and early air handling system designed and installed by
Hadens of Trowbridge. The boiler has been removed, though the
ancillary system has been ingeniously modified to suit modern
environmental management.

HISTORY: One of the most flamboyant Non-Conformist
chapels of its day, the Percy Chapel was founded by the
Congregationalist secessionists from Argyle Chapel, Bath, after
the appointment of the Rev W H Dyer to succeed the retiring
incumbent, the Rev Jay, who then took a considerable number
of affluent members of his congregation with him, leading to
the construction of this chapel on the then western fringes of
the city. The name of the chapel was taken from Jay’s residence
in Percy Place. The First Pastor was the Rev Richard Brindley,
and the Chapel opened 13th December 1854. It had a capacity of
1000. A prominent cupola-topped ventilator on top of the roof
has been removed since 1945. The present congregation (the
Elim Pentecostal Church, was founded in Monaghan, Ireland in
1915) has been based here since 1955.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: The Elim Pentecostal
Church, formerly the Percy Chapel, built in 1854 to the
designs of H E and A S Goodridge, architects, is of outstanding
architectural and historic interest on account of its confident
architectural articulation of the distinctive Lombardic
Romanesque style adopted for its design, the creative planning
employed to accommodate such a building on a difficult site,
and the innovative use of air handling technology utilised to
heat the large volume of the church. Built to the designs of
Henry Goodridge, it compares well with his best work in Bath
such as the Beckford Tower (listed Grade I) and Bathwick
Grange (listed Grade II*). The associations with Reverend
William Jay, one of the most influential preachers of his day,
adds additional interest. It also forms part of an important group
of listed buildings on the western approaches to the historic city,
within both the City Centre Conservation Area and the Bath
World Heritage Site.

Author

JONATHAN TAYLOR is the editor of The Building Conservation Directory and a co-founder of Cathedral Communications Limited. He studied architectural conservation at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh and has a background in architectural design, conservation and urban regeneration